'Mamma Mia!' musical moving to new B'way theater

NEW YORK (AP) — The Broadway musical "Mamma Mia!" will be dancing to a slightly smaller theater in Times Square later this year.

Producers said Thursday night that the show, featuring ABBA songs such as "Dancing Queen," will leave the Winter Garden Theatre and boogie over to the Broadhurst Theatre, six blocks away.

The Winter Garden, on Broadway between 50th and 51st streets, seats 1,498 people, while the Broadhurst, on 44th Street, accommodates 1,182. Both are run by the Shubert Organization.

"'Mamma Mia!' is a very important show to us and we expect the production to keep playing at the Broadhurst Theatre for a very long time," Shubert Organization co-CEOs Philip J. Smith and Robert E. Wankel said in a statement.

"Mamma Mia!" is the 10th longest-running show on Broadway. It has been seen by more than 50 million people worldwide and has grossed more than $2 billion at the box office. It opened at the Winter Garden in 2001 and has been performed almost 4,800 times.

The show tells the story of a one-time pop singer and single mother whose daughter Sophie is getting married. Sophie finds in her mother's diary the names of three men who might be her father and secretly invites them to the wedding.

The musical's songs also include "The Winner Takes It All," ''Super Trouper," ''Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" and "Take a Chance on Me."

Shows that have moved from one Broadway theater to another include "Chicago" and the original productions of "42nd Street," ''Les Miserables" and "Annie."